


Bank of Coals

by Eclectic_Goddess



Category: Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Comfort, Gen, Master & Padawan Relationship(s), Nightmares, Post-Episode: s01e13 Fire Across the Galaxy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-29
Updated: 2016-12-29
Packaged: 2018-09-13 05:09:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9107905
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Eclectic_Goddess/pseuds/Eclectic_Goddess
Summary: “You should get some rest.”“I’m fine.”“That would be more convincing if you could keep your eyes open when you said it.”





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written a long time ago and lost. Recently found after Rogue One easter eggs prompted me to re-watch all of Rebels. Takes place immediately following "Fire Across the Galaxy".

“You should get some rest.”

“I’m fine.”

“That would be more convincing if you could keep your eyes open when you said it.”

Kanan opened his eyes. It was far harder that it should be. He had to blink a couple of times to bring the Ghost’s common room into focus. He wondered how long he’d been sitting there. When he was able to make out Hera’s expression, he cringed.

“Don’t you dare tell me you’re fine again,” she said firmly.

She looked angry. Fond, but angry. He didn’t need to reach out to her through the Force to know that she wasn’t really angry at him, but he would do in a pinch.

“I will be fine. Is that better?”

Rolling her eyes, Hera shoved up from the table. “I know you will be. After you’ve gotten some rest.”

Kanan didn’t get a chance to argue anymore. She hooked her arm under his and heaved, leaving him little choice but to stagger up to his feet. The deck slid under him, but he stayed upright. Mostly upright.

“Where’s Ezra?” he asked as they made their careful way in the direction of his quarters. He suspected that he’d be asking that question a lot more in the near future. His stomach jolted sickeningly at the mere memory of Ezra standing in the path of the Inquisitor’s lightsaber.

“In his bunk. He crashed right after we came back from the debrief. I think one of the medics might have slipped him a sedative. Kid barely sat still long enough for them to look at his face.” Hera smacked the panel to open Kanan’s quarters and turned sideways to pull him through the doorway. “If you hadn’t used some Jedi mind trick to convince them that you were all right, I would have asked for something to slip into your caf.”

“I didn’t use a Jedi mind trick.” _Medics._ “Can they do anything about the scars?”

Hera all but shoved him down into the bunk. “Doesn’t sound like it. He’s just going to have to live with them. If it’s any comfort, he seems to think they will make him look cool.”

Kanan breathed a laugh. “That sounds like him.”

They lapsed into silence. Kanan tried to help as Hera moved to unstrap his pauldron, but she slapped his hands away. He gave in and let her take off his armor and unlace his boots. It suddenly seemed like a lot of effort to stay upright. He realized his eyes were closed again and didn’t bother trying to open them.

There was a familiar beep, and Hera said, “Hey Chopper. Just putting our fearless leader to bed.”

Chopper’s wheels moved across the deck, followed by thud as he ran firmly into the bulkhead.

“He’s okay, Chopper.” Hera tugged Kanan’s right boot off. “He just needs to get some sleep.”

There was a short but rude trill, and the sound of the droid’s center leg retracting.

“Suit yourself.”

Kanan forced his eyes open. Chopper had positioned himself in the corner across from his bunk. As Kanan watched, one of his scanner lights flickered on, then back off.

“What are you up to?” Kanan asked. He wasn’t sure if his speech was slurred, or if his hearing was distorted by the effort of not falling over.

“Seems that Chopper thinks you need a bodyguard.” Hera tossed Kanan’s boots away. “He came in here a lot while you were gone. I think he really missed you.”

“That’s…” Weird. It was weird. Generally, he felt lucky to be on Chopper’s “tolerated” list. “Weird.”

“You don’t need to tell me.”

Kanan wasn’t aware of lying down, he just suddenly was. Hera made a noise of annoyance as she pulled his belt out from under him.

“I’m putting your lightsaber here on the shelf.”

Kanan tried to thank her, but nothing came out. He briefly felt her cool hand against his forehead, then the brush of her lips on his cheek.

“Sleep, Love.”

He did.

 

_The Inquisitor was there. His lightsaber was whole, a red arc of light that hurt to look at. He was laughing._

_Ezra was there, too. Kanan couldn’t see him, but he knew he was close, and he knew he was in danger. He tried to warn Ezra away, to shout a warning, an order to leave him. The same order his master had given him. Run._

_No sound came out. The Inquisitor laughed and his lightsaber spun, and Kanan knew it was already too late. Too late for him, and too late for Ezra. Something was coming. Something worse. ___

Kanan would have liked to have jerked awake. Instead, he fought his way out of the dream slowly, awareness growing by degrees and beating back the darkness filled with red light. As soon as he was able, he opened his eyes.

The side of his bunk had never looked so reassuring. Taking a deep breath, Kanan pressed his hand to the cool metal. Vibrations from the Ghost’s engines passed through his fingertips and loosened something in his chest. He was home. The Inquisitor was dead. Ezra was safe.

Kanan’s door slid open, and Ezra stood there, yawning. Chopper rolled forward even as he stepped inside, hooting and beeping. The droid banged into Ezra’s legs before he could dance out of the way.

“What the…Chopper, why are you…” Chopper ran at him again, trying to push him back out the door. “Hey, knock it off!”

“Chopper,” Kanan scolded wearily. “Leave him alone.”

Chopper let out a long, indignant whistle.

“Yeah, bolt brain, let me in.”

Chopper surged forward, but Ezra was ready this time. Planting one hand on top of the droid, he easily vaulted over him. Before Kanan even had time to admire the maneuver, Ezra had scrambled across the room and up onto his bunk. Boney knees and elbows seemed to find every bruise Kanan had before Ezra settled into the space between he and the bulkhead.

Chopper spun around and rolled back to bang against the edge of the bunk, letting loose a string of rude noise. Sighing, Kanan put a hand out and pushed him away gently.

“Stop, Chopper. Stop it. Ezra’s fine. He can be here.”

Ezra tried to kick at the droid across his body but only succeeded in kneeing Kanan in the stomach.

“Both of you, knock it off!”

Ezra went still and the droid quiet. Kanan took a deep breath, scrubbing his face with both hands.

“We’re sorry,” Ezra said after a moment. Chopper beeped in agreement.

“It’s…it’s okay.”

Chopper rolled away from the bed and settled back onto his wheels. Ezra stayed where he was, hunched against the bulkhead next to Kanan.

“What are you doing, Ezra? You should be asleep.” Kanan was still tired. Even with the dream and Ezra and Chopper’s antics, it was hard to keep his eyes open.

“I was asleep. I had a dream…or something…that you were calling me. When I woke up, I could kinda still hear you, so I came to check if you were all right.”

“Oh, sorry. That was…” Kanan tried to think of a good way to explain it. “I was dreaming. The connection we made when you found me is still pretty strong, so you picked up some of it.”

Ezra shuffled around, and Kanan didn’t need to open his eyes to know that he was making himself comfortable. Sighing, he turned on his side to give him more room.

“What was it about, your dream?”

“You couldn’t tell?”

“No. I could just hear you. You sounded…” Ezra hesitated. “Was it the Inquistitor?”

“Yes.”

“Oh.”

It was quiet for long enough that Kanan started to drift off to sleep again.

“Hey, Kanan?”

“Yeah?”

“Will the connection fade again, or will it always be like this?”

“I don’t know. Most padawans developed a connection to their masters over years of training together, and if that connection was strong enough, it never really faded.”

“Did you have that with your master?”

There in the dark, it was easier to think about Master Billaba than it had been in years. He remembered her teasing smile, warm in the firelight. “We had a connection, but…we weren’t together for that long. I don’t know what might have happened.”

“Oh.” Ezra was silent for a long time, and Kanan tried to stay awake, sensing that the conversation wasn’t over. “It would okay, if didn’t fade. I don’t mind it much.”

“No, me neither,” Kanan said. Then, he slept.

 

The End


End file.
